Early America

Factors and Labour Requirement behind Death Toll

The extreme population decrease is due to a variety of factors, including but not limited to: war, disease, massacres, extreme laborious work, boarding school abuses, high suicide rates, high rates of sterilization of Native American women, and federally imposed recognition policies that restrict tribal enrolment numbers (Eakin, Pp. 46). The exact death toll of what became known as the Trail of  Tears is unknown, but estimates hover between 2025 percent, mostly children and elders. The lowest point of the Native American population—less than 250,000—is thought to have occurred between 1890 and 1910.

The lowest point of the Native American population—less than 250,000—is thought to ...